Popular telecommunications company Avaya have been facing some serious concerns lately thanks to their upcoming bankruptcy. However, despite the obvious financial issues the brand appears to be facing, they have still managed to introduce a new cloud-based phone service designed for small to medium-sized companies. At the same time, the company also launched an online team messaging service designed to compete with Microsoft Skype for Business and Cisco Spark
Zang Office and Zang Spaces by Avaya were both introduced at the “ENGAGE” conference in Las Vegas. The services will be sold by Zang, the company’s spinoff business, which was launched in 2016. Zang office provides toll-free and local numbers, interactive voice response, voicemail-to-email translation and conference calling. Online tools give administrators the key to make changes to the call logs, IVR, and account settings, while customers can choose to use soft clients on a desktop, mobile clients on Android or iOS, and landline phones.
Catching up with the Rest
Despite their attempt at innovation, Zang office is obviously a late entry to the market for Avaya, meaning that the company is going to need to race to catch up with other vendors like RingCentral. The most likely people to buy the Zang offering are companies that are looking to migrate gradually from on-premise telephone systems offered by Avaya. After all, new customers are likely to feel a little apprehensive about working with Avaya amidst their approaching bankruptcy.
For those who are a little out of the loop, Avaya filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January of this year, to help reorganise around $6 billion in debt. Though the company has suggested that this is just a simple restructuring process, the truth is that they aren’t in control of the outcome anymore. The filing could be minor, it could mean the end of various divisions within Avaya.
Rivals like RingCentral and Cisco have already begun to launch campaigns which take advantage of the uncertainty in Avaya’s future. Although most Avaya customers are more likely to stay with their existing provider than head elsewhere, experts believe that they’re not going to start taking on new products, just in case this is the beginning of the end for the company. According to an analyst at Nemertes Research, Irwin Lazar, the Chapter 11 filing is likely to “free any new investments” for the time being.
The New Avaya Zang “Spaces”
Zang Spaces, by Avaya is an online-only application designed to create virtual meeting places for employee teams. Features range from content sharing to instant messaging, and video and voice calling are also available.
Though Spaces isn’t necessarily late to the market like Zang Office, it’s still going to have some teething problems when it comes to getting recognised in a very crowded market. Competitors range from Skype to Business, to Cisco’s spark, and even Slack.
Right now, Zang Spaces is being priced on a tiered model, that starts with a basic free package including file and video sharing, alongside messaging for up to three people.
